


Iron Wires & Tea Leaves

by gwenyn_bright



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Scout Regiment, Smutember 2020, Stripping, Tumblr: Smutember, an attempt at humor was made
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:27:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenyn_bright/pseuds/gwenyn_bright
Summary: During an expedition, Oluo saves Petra's life and she kisses him on impulse. This strains their relationship to the point where Oluo has to take his clothes off for the sake of the plot. Smutember2020 Day 3 - Striptease.
Relationships: Oluo Bozado/Petra Ral
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20
Collections: Smutember 2020





	Iron Wires & Tea Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> I swear this was going to be a quick PWP because I'm not much of a fan of striptease, but ended up with a 17-page fic and an undying love for Oluo x Petra. Standard disclaimer: I don't own anything, not beta-read, English is not my first language, please enjoy, etc.

The Scout Legion is out in an expedition of the Titan-infested land inside of Wall Maria. They explore the remains of a town near the river, whose inhabitants had managed to flee in time. This means the destruction was minimal, and the place had potential to serve as a sort of reloading base for the Scouts in future expeditions. They would have to refurnish several buildings in different areas. For instance, gas-charging stations had to be strategically placed in the center of the town and two other locations, usually the tallest buildings due north and south; horse stables, a kitchen and mess hall, gear maintenance station, and more. If by any chance they manage to find buildings with cellars or basements (not very common in areas near rivers), even better.

Eld, Günther, Petra, and Oluo, the special ops squad lead by Captain Levi, are tasked with patrolling the small town while the rest of the Scouts inspect the buildings. They glide along the roofs, paying close attention in every direction for signs of Titans.

Captain Levi himself is with Commander Erwin, directing the efforts of the rest of the team to be as effective as possible. While it’s not rare for the special ops team to be left alone to conduct a task by their captain, Petra Ral is always secretly thrilled to have earned his utmost trust. Captain Levi’s standards are very high, so she (and her teammates) have a sense of pride and accomplishment in their duty.

"Ya-ho! Petra!" A cheerful voice calls from below.

Petra walks to the edge of the roof she is standing on to see Squad Leader Hange waving at her. "Have you seen any cuties in the distance?" she asks, referring to Titans. 

"None so far, squad leader," Petra responds. 

"Aww, phooey," Hange says in disappointment, kicking a rock. “Thanks, anyway! Do you know where Eld is?”

Petra scans the area and spots Eld perched atop the church bell tower.

“Over there, in the church,” Petra informs her, pointing in the direction with her sword. “It’s about 200 meters from here.”

“Thanks, Petra!” Hange says giving a quick salute and running towards the church.

Petra tightens her mouth in slight disapproval. She is certain Hange is supposed to be with the other Squad Leaders directing the operation, and the fact that she is running around town instead of using her ODM gear is probably because she doesn’t want to be spotted by Captain Levi.

While she somewhat understands Hange’s insatiable curiosity and the value of her unorthodox research in the bigger picture, she still finds her constant insubordination and eccentric behavior distracting. 

Soon, Moblit and Nifa run by, calling for Hange with certain desperation. 

"Squad Leader! Squad Leader Hange!" Moblit yells.

"Hey, Petra!" Nifa shouts at her, waving her hand. "Have you–?"

"That way," Petra screams back, pointing in the direction Hange had disappeared to just a couple of minutes ago.

"Thanks!" Moblit and Nifa speak at the same time. The duo runs after their missing Squad Leader, and she can hear Nifa joking with a “Squad Leader Hange, your wife, Moblit, is looking for you!”

She can’t hear Moblit’s response, but she still smiles at the interaction. Nifa is always telling her how Moblit has a huge crush on Hange and how much he looks after her. 

It had only taken a few seconds of Petra being slightly distracted for a Titan to make its way from the thicket of trees near the edge of the town to the building she was standing on. It's surprisingly silent, and when she hears the clatter of the roof tiles being crushed by the massive arms, it's almost too late.

It takes hold of her foot and pulls Petra toward it with immeasurable strength. Petra can't help but scream, given her precarious situation. It's only thanks to muscle memory that she is able to cut the Titan's hand off –later, when trying to remember what happened, she’d have no recollection of what she did to escape.

She falls from the Titan’s grasp to the ground with a metallic clang from the blade boxes. The landing is not too hard on her thanks to the soft grass that has grown unchecked in the streets for the past four years.

The Titan doesn't seem phased at the loss of its appendage, but is somewhat confused as it reaches toward the Scout, not sure why it can’t grip her with a smoking and bleeding stump where its hand should be.

Petra takes advantage of the momentary confusion to jump to her feet and shoot the grappling hooks of her ODM to escape to safety. Unfortunately, the left side of the mechanism fails, probably due to her earlier fall. When the iron wire on the right side secures itself to a wall and pulls her, she is thrown off-balance and promptly stamps herself against the building, falling once again to the grass.

She lands on the edge of the metal box containing her blades, and it hurts like hell, but she doesn’t have time to think about it. She jumps to her feet and turns around frantically to see where the Titan is. It is charging straight at her, fast and silent.

Petra draws her swords, ready to fight to the death. Then, the sound of whooshing and metal piercing through skin is heard, though she can't see or feel anything. ‘ _ Am I… inside the Titan’s belly?’ _

After a few seconds of disoriented panic, she thrashes around, only to be met with a harsh “Stop moving, dammit!”

She does as she is told and soon light rushes in as her own cloak falls from her face. She finds herself in Oluo’s arms, being carried princess-style. He is crouching on a wide windowsill, half-covered by the overarching roof.

"We got that one!" Günther's voice is heard in the distance.

"Petra's safe!" Oluo confirms with a holler to the rest of the team. Then, he turns to Petra. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

There is a kind yet fierce concern in his eyes, and not a hint of the usual dismissive haughtiness, and her heart beats even faster than during her recent brush with death. 

Sometimes, it seems to Petra that she and Oluo were cursed to be together. They had joined the Training Corps at the same time, graduated together, and then went on to join the Survey Corps AND be picked to be on the same team, where they were paired off more often than not. 

In all of these 7 years of knowing him, she has never seen him make the expression he is wearing now. He looks… well, he looks rather handsome. Her body once again acts on its own, as she finds herself unable to break eye contact with her teammate. She places her hand on the back of his head and pulls him in for a kiss.

She can feel his body tense in surprise. Though initially startled, Oluo quickly recovers and returns the kiss with a quiet sigh, slightly pressing himself against her. He pushes her gently so that her back is against the wooden panel of the window. He breaks the kiss and, with a quick mannouver, kicks in the wooden window panel and pivots, depositing her inside the house.

"Wait here, Petra," he says. "We'll let you know when the coast is clear." 

When she hears her name, she snaps out of her daze and nods, embarrassed and confused. The events that had transpired between 'fighting a Titan' and 'kissing Oluo' are a blur and she is doubtful that every memory that is rushing to her mind right now actually happened. 

From the outside, the sounds of an active battle hie into the dark, musty room and Petra gathers herself. She hastily takes off her the main housing of her ODM gear, taking it apart to see if the malfunction is fixable. Luckily, the steel cables had just gotten tangled in the left spool, rendering it unable to wind out the wire. After the necessary adjustments, she tests the winch and it seems to work fine once again.

Petra equips her gear and climbs onto the windowsill, observing very carefully the surrounding scene. She is relieved to see her team, along with Captain Levi, gathered on a rooftop in calm conversation.

She launches the grappling hooks of the ODM gear and zips over to them, trying to keep down her embarrassment. She knows she shouldn't think too much about it, as they have saved each other from near-death experiences multiple times, but she can't help it. She had just earlier been so proud of having been trusted to manage this task with her teammates, but things had gotten out of control fast.

"Petra, are you hurt?" Captain Levi asks. The men in her team look at her with concern.

"I’m alright, just a little shaken. When I fell from the roof my gear jammed up, but I think it's okay now," she reassures them.

"We're not taking any chances. Take your gear to the maintenance crew so they take a look at it," Levi instructs."Oluo, you go with her."

"If they're not done in fifteen minutes, have them give you another one," Levi continues. "I want you both back here in twenty minutes."

Petra and Oluo respond with a "Yes, sir!" and jump off the roof, gliding across the abandoned town.

As the pair disappears behind the buildings, the rest of the Levi Squad watches them with suspicion.

"Something happened," Günther observes.

"Something definitely happened," Eld agrees. 

"Neither of them protested at having to go together to maintenance," Captain Levi comments. “That is strange.”

~*~

"Well, I ran all the tests and it works fine. Use it as you always do," says the maintenance engineer, handing Petra back her gear. "It's more dangerous to go around in ODM gear that you are not familiar with. We don't recommend it except in case of emergency or if your own is in super bad shape."

"Thanks, Vania," Petra says and equips it to her utility belt.

"No problem. Take care, you two," Fania says and moves back to her makeshift workstation to her duties.

Petra moves around and checks everything is in place, testing the weight and feel of the machine and the grips.

"All set? Let's go," Oluo directs, bending his knees into position to launch himself skyward.

"Wait! Umm…" Petra interjects, then pauses. "About… About what happened..."

Oluo makes a face and turns away, but she is sure he is hiding his embarrassment. "W-what about it?"

Why did she bring it up if she hasn’t the faintest idea of what she wanted to say? She racks her brain, but she still isn’t sure what had just happened. She had kissed him, of course, but was there something else? Had she said something before or after?

“Look, Petra,” Oluo says, breaking the awkward silence. His face is now patronizing, and Petra feels immediately repelled. “It’s obvious you have the hots for me and couldn’t help yourself after such an upsetting experience. You have to remember, though, that you are a member of an Elite squad and even if we do become a couple, you are expected to…”

Petra rolls her eyes. She is not only irritated at his pretentious spiel but also sad that she had actually felt something amorous toward him earlier.

"Nevermind, asshole," she says and triggers the cable hooks, leaving him behind.

“Hey, I wasn’t done talkin–,” he calls and jumps after her, but missteps and slips. He bites his tongue hard and draws blood.

When Petra and Oluo reach their teammates, they are back to their usual bickering.

“How could you leave me behind while I was wounded, Petra?”

“You literally bite your tongue at least twice a day. Why wouldn’t I? You’re just a–” 

“Enough of that,” Günther scolds them. “Captain Levi just went back to Commander Erwin, so we need both of you to be alert right now.”

“He spotted Squad Leader Hange scurrying by and taking notes on the two Titans we just killed, so he dragged her with him,” Eld comments casually. Günther raises an eyebrow.

“Eld, if you spent less time spreading gossip around and more time…”

Petra doesn’t usually go off by herself without a word, but she does just that, much to the surprise of the other three. Eld and Günther glare at Oluo with suspicion.

“Wh-what are you two looking at me like that for?” he asks defensively.

“What did you do to her?” Günther inquires.

“What did  _ I– _ ?!” Oluo scoffs, offended. “Apart from saving her life from that Titan, you mean?”

Eld and Günther cross their arms and share a meaningful look. They should have known.

“Man, I was sure you’d start pestering her about that at some point, but it just happened. It’s too soon,” Eld admonishes.

Oluo opens his mouth to say something but stops himself. “Whatever,” he says dismissively and also goes his own way. It’s not like he can explain to them what had just happened, and it would be better they just think it’s him being insufferable.

~*~

In the next few weeks, things seem to go as usual: Trainings, drills, office work, cleaning duty (this holds particular importance for the members of Levi’s squad), meetings, and plannings.

For Petra, though, her interactions with Oluo seem to be even more irritating than usual. He often makes comments about her not being able to keep her hands off of him, or of wanting to be his girlfriend. Thankfully, he doesn’t say such things in front of other people, but her patience is tested every single day.

Petra confides her frustrations in Nifa, who is her closest female friend, though not actually disclosing the important fact that she had kissed Oluo. Now that some time had passed, it just seemed too embarrassing to admit.

“Just ignore him,” Nifa recommends her one day during lunchtime, knowing full well her advice would fall on deaf ears because Petra  _ never _ ignores Oluo.

“Ugh, he is just the worst! One of these days, I swear...” Petra continues her vague diatribe, not really specifying what would happen on the aforementioned one-of-these-days.

Nifa has never known what to make of their relationship. Sometimes, it seems like Petra genuinely can’t stand him, but she always sees them together.

“You know, if he’s really making you uncomfortable, you should talk to Captain Levi about it. Maybe he can put a stop to it,” Nifa says.

Petra seems startled. “Captain Levi? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Nifa props her chin on her hand, observing her friend’s reaction.

“Why not? I’m sure that he wants every person on his team to be able to rely on each other, and if you are being harassed...”

“Harassed?!” Petra interjects, appalled. “Nifa, that is… I mean, it’s not like  _ that _ !”

“Oh? Then I don’t understand.”

Petra sighs, slightly miffed. “Neither do I.”

Nifa changes the subject and they chat amiably for a few minutes. Then, Günther shows up visibly shaken.

“Petra, we need your help,” he says.

“Günther, you look really bad. What happened?”

He looks at her gravely before answering “Eld was fetching something for the Captain and accidentally tipped over the tea shelf in the Captain’s study.”

Petra’s concerned face turns into one of pure horror. “And the tea containers…?”

“All broken.”

“Maria, Rose, and Sheena help us all,” Petra murmurs. “What… How can I help?”

“Oluo is already in the study cleaning up, but the smell of tea and herbs is really powerful. You’ll both have to sweep everything and then clean and air the carpets. Eld and I will ride into town and buy replacements for the tea.”

“Ok, got it,” Petra says with determination. She has the same excited feeling that invades her body whenever her team works together, being able to understand each other with minimal verbal instructions. “Good luck.”

Günther hurries to the stables where Eld is already waiting for him. Petra apologizes to Nifa for leaving so suddenly, but her friend waves her off with an understanding smile.

Petra arrives at the study, but she can’t open the door. “Oluo, are you in there? It’s Petra. Günther told me–”

Oluo swings the door open and harshly pulls her in, promptly locking it again. She snatches her hand back and glares at him.

“Sorry, was I too rough?” he apologizes, uncharacteristically humble.

“It’s fine,” she says, noticing his subdued demeanor. She knows he only gets like this when he’s really nervous. “What should I do?”

“I already swept most of it, but we have to move everything around to make sure. Then we’d have to air the carpet outside to get rid of the smell, but it’s too conspicuous and it’ll be a pain to move it around and then carry it back inside… Who knows when Captain will want to come to the study.”

“Maybe we could use sprinkle baking soda and give it a good sweeping. Captain Levi swears by that stuff for removing odors,” Petra suggests.

“I thought about that, too,” he says. “I think that may be the best solution. Hopefully, it will not leave any white residues”

“Ok, I’ll take out the trash and bring the baking soda,” Petra says as she springs into action, taking the metal bucket filled with glass shards and loose-leaf tea. “I’ll knock thrice when I come back, so be ready.”

Petra heads out and carries her tasks quietly and efficiently, making sure to act as casual as possible. Everyone knows the Special Ops squad has a rigorous cleaning schedule, so it’s easier to act as if everything is part of the routine.

As she turns around a corridor on her way back, she spots Captain Levi. She quickly backtracks and hides behind the wall. ‘ _ Is he going to the study?! _ ’ she thinks, panicking. Then, she hears him talking.

“When was the last time you showered, you stinkin’ four-eyes?”

The voice of Squad Leader Hange pipes up. “Leviii~ such a personal thing to ask. You can’t do that. Also, it’s none of your business,” she says, avoiding his question.

“You reek and your hair is all gross and oily. Have some respect for yourself and your team and take a fucking bath or at least a shower.”

“I mean, I will do that, but right now I’m quite busy, you see.”

“You will take a shower  _ now _ , or I’ll–”

“I get it! I get it! Just… don’t knock me down again,” Hange pleads.

Petra can hear the shuffling of feet, and after a few seconds, Hange talks again.

“Wha– You’re coming? I can do it myself, you know.”

“Like hell you are. I’ll take you to the showers myself and scrub you with a broom if I fucking have to.”

“A broom?! Again?! No, I swear I’ll do it. Let me just...”

“No.”

“But Moblit is…”

“Moblit is already waiting in the showers for you.”

“That little traitor!”

The conversation grows fainter with their steps, and Petra gives them a few more seconds to make sure they wouldn’t return. After her surroundings seem safe enough, Petra scurries to Captain Levi’s study once again.

She knocks on the door three times and then hears it being unlocked from the inside. She pushes it open and secures the door. Oluo is on his hands and knees, really going at the carpet with a scrubbing brush.

Petra smiles. Despite all of the things Oluo says and does that drive her nuts, she is always pleasantly surprised at how diligent and hard-working he is. The fact that, despite his natural clumsiness, he has the most Titan kills solo in the team is proof of that. He can be arrogant, but she also knows he will not hesitate to get on his knees –literally– and do menial work if there’s anything to be done.

“I know you can’t help yourself, but you can gawk at me later, Petra. There’s work to be done,” Oluo snaps.

Petra wonders if Oluo knows how much he has interfered with his own likeability by being a pretentious ass but says nothing. She kneels down beside him and starts sprinkling the white powder on the carpet, then takes a scrubbing brush and scours the carpet, matching his pace.

It takes them a while to clean the whole carpet by hand, but they manage to finish it and it looks as good as new.

“I think we actually did a pretty decent job,” Petra says, tired but satisfied.

Oluo shakes his arms and cracks his neck. “Yup. ”

Suddenly, the sound of the doorknob turning makes both of them jump to their feet. Thankfully, it’s locked.

“What if it’s Eld or Günther?” Petra whispers harshly.

“It’s too soon, they shouldn’t be back yet, and they’d identify themselves. What if it’s Captain Levi?”

“No, he has the key, he’d already…”

The person on the other side of the door shakes the knob persistently, and Petra moves close to Oluo. “What do we do?” she hisses.

He looks around and says “let’s go to the meeting room”. The meeting room next door connects to Captain Levi’s study through a door on the inside. They both gather the bucket and brushes and stealthily move to the other room making sure to not make any noise.

Just as they close the door, they hear the studio being opened with a key.

“Oh my goodness,” Petra mouths with relief, not making a sound. Oluo squeezes her hand briefly and says, “that was close.”

They press their ears against the door, trying to figure out what is going on in the studio. It isn’t obvious what the person is doing, but after a couple of minutes, the door leading to the hall opens and closes and the tell-tale sound of the lock being clicked into place makes both of them let out the breath they didn’t know they’d been holding in.

Petra moves away from the door and lets herself fall into one of the many chairs. “I don’t know if that was Captain, but if it was he didn’t seem to notice anything out of order for now.”

“Hopefully Eld and Günther come back soon,” Oluo says, joining her on an adjacent chair.

“Let’s go back inside to wait for them,” Petra suggests.

“No, if the Captain or another person with the key comes back, we’d have to explain why we’re there. We can stay here and listen for Eld and Günther’s return.”

“Oh, that’s actually pretty smart,” Petra admits. “But what if someone comes into the meeting room?”

“Well, there are no meetings scheduled for today so it’s unlikely. If it happens, though, we can just pretend we are making out.”

Petra turns indignantly. “What?!”

“It’s not like I like it, Petra, but everyone here is making out with each other all the time, so it’s the perfect excuse and no one usually asks questions about it.”

She hates to admit that he is probably right. Then, she thinks about the other day when she kissed him and what if the excuse Oluo had just proposed is not just a lie to justify their presence in the meeting room, but an explanation of them actually making out, right now. She blushes and is immediately aware of the proximity of their bodies.

“In any case, don’t go acting coy on me. If you are nice to me, I may let you kiss me again,” Oluo continues.

“Shut up!” Petra exclaims, her blush deepening. “That was just–!”

“An outburst of unbridled passion? The culmination of years admiring me from afar? I gathered that much.”

“Will you just shut up for a second?!”

Petra’s mind is in overdrive. Just a few seconds ago she was entertaining the idea of snogging him and now she wants to punch him (but also kiss him). She is mortified, for sure, but not only because he is deliberately teasing her and not realizing the effect it is having on her; she is being cornered, and unknowingly being forced to affront her feelings.

“Look. Just admit you have the hots for me and I’ll drop the issue,” Oluo offers. His patronizing expression makes her exceedingly irate, and that is enough for her to react.

“What, because of a single kiss? How old are you, Oluo?” Petra counters. “Yes, maybe I was overwhelmed by the situation that day, and you did look pretty cool  _ once _ , but that’s about it!”

Oluo looks taken aback, and that makes Petra continue her verbal attack with more confidence. “You go on and on about how I kissed you. Yet, it’s you who keeps bringing it up like it was your first kiss or something.”

It dawns on Petra that it may as well have been Oluo’s first kiss, given his current blushing expression. It makes her lose her focus and feel a little sorry for him.

“Anyway… Just drop the subject. It’s not like I don’t like you. I do, really, it’s just that you are a pain in the ass sometimes.”

He is very serious and quiet, meditating what Petra had just dropped on him.

“That is...,” he begins. “Those were a lot of words just to state that your mind says ‘no’ but your body says ‘yes’.”

Petra looks at him dumbstruck. "My  _ body _ ? Maria, Rose, and Sheena, give me patience!"

“You literally just said you liked me,” Oluo counters haughtily. 

“I did no such thing!”

“You said that you like me despite being a pain in the ass!”

“Just because I said I like you doesn’t mean I actually like you!”

On and on they go, squabbling back and forth, their previous endeavour of resolving the tea crisis long forgotten. Either of them could have just stopped arguing, or even left the room at any point. They didn’t, of course, because it is the bickering with each other that turns them on, unbeknownst to them. 

"Ugh, this is why we couldn’t work. Your head is too far up your ass!"

“Once again, you bring my ass into the conversation. I get it, you like looking at it, but it’s not appropriate, Petra.”

"Projecting much? Oluo, apart from that tiny kiss when have I ever shown interest? It’s your own self-delusion speaking. Listen to yourself!"

"No,  _ you _ listen."

Petra arches an eyebrow, defiant. "Oh? You want me to listen? Go ahead, I’m all ears."

Oluo is taken aback. He was definitely not expecting that answer from her, so he is temporarily at a loss for words. Then, an idea strikes him. It’s beyond stupid, but he is confident he’ll be able to gain the upper hand here and fluster Petra to the high heavens.

"I'll  _ show _ you," he declares with the confident determination of someone flirting too hard for their own good.

He plants his hands on the table with a loud bang. He walks to the hallway door and locks it, and then returns and pushes the table out of the way. It’s pretty large so he only manages to drag it a few meters, but the space provided is enough.

"What are you…?" Petra asks, moving to help him with the table, but he raises his palm into a stop sign.

"Sit down," he instructs roughly.

Petra rolls her eyes, then sits down on the chair and crosses her arms. “Then show me.”

Oluo gulps. The few moments that had passed had helped him realize the mess he had gotten himself into. If he backs down now, he’d be handing Petra ammunition to rag on him for months. However, if he plays this just right, she will be too embarrassed to ever talk about it with anyone, ever. 

He is a perfectionist, but he is also a practical man when needed, so he concludes the best way to get out of the situation as unscathed as possible is to just carry on. 

First, he takes off his cravat, then his jacket, and moves toward her with a strange sort of resolve written on his face. She still doesn't know what is going on when he stops right in front of her and unbuckles the belt that sits on his chest. Then he slides the suspenders off his shoulders and leans into Petra, who reacts by pulling back.

"Oluo, what the hell?!" she shrieks attempting to stand up, but he places both of his hands on the back of the chair, effectively blocking her from leaving the chair. Her heart races at the proximity, remembering once again the kiss that had transpired a few weeks ago.

"I'm stripping, you idiot. What does it look like to you?" he explains angrily, both cheeks flushed.

Then it all makes sense. "Is this your attempt at making me admit I’m attracted to your body? Pfft, do your best," she says, trying to sound dismissive but her voice still coming out shaky.

Oluo continues his routine, unfastening a couple of buttons from his shirt and tilting his body so that Petra could get a peek inside. Then, he reaches for the neck of the shirt, pulls it upwards, and tosses it aside, revealing his bare torso.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to Petra, as she has seen him —and everyone on the team— shirtless at some point during their daily training. The context, however, makes a world of difference and she finds herself quite unable to look away. Her eyes are as wide as saucers and her mouth is a tiny 'o' of quiet surprise.

Oluo blushes slightly at her obvious enthrallment, but keeps up his performance, moving in (what he hopes is) sultry invitation. He sits on her lap, careful to carry most of his weight on his legs, and she squeaks, surprised.

He suppresses a smile and, emboldened by Petra’s positive reaction, arches his back until it touches her legs. From Petra’s point of view, Oluo’s chest is displayed in all its lean, muscular splendor. There are scars from expeditions and battles and training, and Petra is struck by an affectionate sort of recognition. She can date them pretty accurately, as they are so similar to her own in color and texture. The oldest ones are white and blurry around the edges, while the most recent ones are bright pink and puffy.

Her eyes travel down and the tender moment evolves into something more lustful as she spots the trail of hair below his navel. Its path is cut short by the top hem of the britches, but she imagines it going down, down until it reaches…

Petra places her hands on his thighs on instinct, but Oluo yelps and slides off of her, then scolds her: “No touching!”

She frowns, but still takes off her hands and clenches them into fists, demonstrating her eagerness to comply with the terms he has made up.

Oluo turns on his heel, and Petra raises her eyebrows. The metallic clink of him unbuckling his belt makes her feel hot all over. With his back to her, he sits once again on her lap but leans back onto her chest. He tilts his head so that his breath tickles her neck, and her whole body jolts at the contact.

“I thought–” she croaks, then clears her throat. “I thought you said no touching.”

“ _ You _ can’t touch,” he corrects and grabs the sides of the chair to roll his body against Petra’s.

She feels quite dizzy, her senses overwhelmed with the feeling of his warm, bare skin pressing against her and the wonderful smell of lemongrass tea leaves and his cologne and the slight musk of maleness. Then, she realizes the undulating movement is actually shimmying his pants down his thighs and the edges of her vision start to darken in order to focus all of her attention on the man in front of her.

"Oh," she says quietly, unsure of what exactly she is feeling. She wants to throw him off of her, but  _ then _ jump on him and kiss that stupid, smug expression off his face.

"How are you doing?" he asks and she responds with a quick nod. "Fine…"

Oluo brushes his lips against her neck and Petra shivers with an audible gasp. He slides off of her and finishes taking the pants off. He is only in his underwear. Then he turns around and proceeds to straddle her.

"Oh, my goodness," she murmurs, covering her face with her hands but allowing enough space between her fingers to keep on looking.

Oluo snorts, and gives a small, genuine laugh that makes him actually look his age.

"You are– you  _ can _ be cute," he tells her with an affectionate smile and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear.

The gesture is so comforting that something inside Petra bursts. Years and years of feelings, both good and bad, are condensing into the lust she has been nursing for the past few minutes.

The pent-up frustration is just too much for Petra, wanting to kiss him but also slap the daylights off of him, so she circles her arms around his strong thighs and stands up, carrying him.

"Wait–!" Oluo protests, instinctively wrapping his legs around her waist so as not to fall. 

Petra pushes him against the closest wall and crushes her lips against his, drawing a moan from Oluo. He cups his hands around her face, glad for this third development he hadn’t considered in his original gamble.

“Mmm… Petra,” he moans between kisses.

He had fantasized about being like this with Petra many times, but in his mind, it would be him taking the lead. He doesn’t mind this outcome at all, and lets her take charge. 

Mimicking his earlier movements, she rolls herself against him and can feel his erection on her belly. This makes her knees go weak, so she presses him harder against the wall so that they can both slide slowly to the floor.

Once safely on the floor, she reluctantly pulls away from Oluo’s embrace to reduce the amount of clothing separating them. She hastily discards her jacket and unbuckles the chest belt, then fumbles with the buttons of her shirt. The lust-fueled impatience gets the best of her and she grabs the hem of her shirt and pulls it over her head, then dives right back to kissing her partner.

Oluo, though very aroused from the salacious nature of the session, doesn’t really like the idea of being on the dirty floor rutting like animals —one of the many things he has picked up from trying to become more like his Captain. He carries Petra to the table and lays her there delicately, then climbs on top of her placing himself between her legs.

The sensation of skin against skin is marvelous, and he instinctively dips down to kiss her neck, coaxing a high-pitched gasp from Petra.

"I can't believe this is finally happening," he murmurs as he plants tiny, soft kisses around the same area.

Petra squirms and shifts as her body responds automatically to his touch. "Oluo…" she calls him softly and she can feel him twitch nervously at the mention of his name.

"Oluo," she says again, and then an almost inaudible "Please…"

"Fuck, Petra," he growls. He traces his tongue along the side of her and she keens as her whole body shoots forward to meet his.

He licks his way down to her breasts, which are encased in a military-conscripted bodice that clasps from the front.

The earlier eagerness turns into uncharacteristic shyness as they gaze into each other’s eyes. The bodice seems to be a barrier that, once crossed, would forever change their relationship. Petra takes the decision first and moves her hands to unfasten the clasp.

Then, a loud bang is heard from the study next door. “There you are! What the fuck are you doing?”

As they register their Captain’s voice in the next room, Petra and Oluo untangle themselves from each other.

“Levi! I wasn’t hiding, I promise. I was just–!” It is Squad Leader Hange’s voice coming exactly behind from the door joining the two rooms.

“Fuck! Was she–?” Oluo hisses, looking into the direction of the door while trying to slide off the table. His natural clumsiness comes into play at that precise moment, as his hand misses landing on the table and he falls down, dragging Petra with him.

The screams of both soldiers and the ensuing racket of bodies and chairs falling down attract the attention of the people in the other room.

“What the hell?!” Captain Levi bellows as he opens the door to find Petra pinning Oluo to the ground, both half-naked and blubbering a string of “Don’t look!” and “This is not what it looks like” and “We can explain!”.

Then, the faces of Eld, Günther, Squad Leader Hange, and Moblit poke behind the Captain, and both Petra and Oluo stare, horrified.

“Well, well, well,” Hange says, glad to be off the spotlight. “I thought I heard some weird things coming in from this room, but–”

“Shut it, four-eyes,” Levi snaps. “Moblit, take Hange back to the showers. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Moblit, no. I’m your squad leader.”

“I’m so sorry,” Moblit says sadly, then throws her over his shoulder and exits the room, while Hange flails and protests loudly.

“You two,” Levi continues, addressing Oluo and Petra. “Dress up. Günther and Eld already explained what happened and apologized, but I was expecting to find you two cleaning up, not…  _ this _ .”

“Sorry, Captain,” Petra and Oluo mutter as they gather their clothes strewn around the room.

Eld and Günther are trying very hard not to smirk, so they say nothing, though their expressions are more than enough to convey their feelings: “Finally”.

“Set everything up for the tea shelf. I have to go help Moblit with that pest he calls Squad Leader,” Levi remarks and leaves with the usual staunchness he wields when it comes to cleaning.

While their teammates start sorting through jars of tea and infusions in the other room, Petra and Oluo dress themselves in awkward silence.

Then, in an unexpected turn of events, Petra takes his hand and stands on tiptoe, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He blushes and turns to look at her wide-eyed. He had been certain that the way things had ended, she’d be too upset to even acknowledge him.

“I liked that,” she says shyly, and he can’t help but smile while averting his eyes and placing his hand on the back of his neck, embarrassed.

“Same,” he admits.

“You know… Maybe later we can conti–” she begins, and he interrupts her with an enthusiastic “Yes!”

“Oh! Okay, then…” she says with a coy smile.

They are both fully dressed and should be moving to the other room, but neither seem to be able to stop smiling, so they just stand next to each other basking in the serotonin-fueled high of a budding romance.

“Just one thing,” Oluo says. “Can we skip the first part? I mean, the stripping? That was just–”

“What?! No. Why?”

He crosses his arms and purses his lips, not wanting to deny Petra the gift that is  _ his body _ , but also not sure he can manage that level of embarrassment twice in a day. She notices his indecision, and takes his hand, interlacing her fingers with his.

“Tell you what. I’ll do it —the stripping— first. Sounds fair?”

Oluo’s mind imagines two seconds of that and disconnects, and while he tries to string two coherent words together to express his absolute support of the plan, he bites his tongue down, hard.


End file.
